Blogging The Boys
Every week, we’re digging into the trenches, offense and defense, because that’s where the real action happens. In this installment, we’re shining a spotlight on the offensive line, who’s holding it down, who’s opening holes for the running backs, and who’s keeping Dak Prescott clean. Let’s get to it.
(2025 Stats: 199 Total Snaps, 129 Pass Blocks, 11 Pressures, 2 QB Hits, 1 Sacks, 2 Penalties)
Thomas steps into Lions week with a clear brief, fill in for Tyler Guyton and keep the left edge boring each snap at a time. Dallas owns a 66% team Pass Block Win Rate (12th) and 72% Run Block Win Rate (12th), that’s a steady platform for a young tackle having to fill in for injury. Detroit, meanwhile, sits 28th in Pass Rush Win Rate (31%) and 30th in Run Stop Win Rate (28%), which says they’re a pressure-without-the-finish defense. In fact, the Lions’ own defensive coordinator has pushed for more closing power lately with a top-five pressure rate in recent weeks (38.7%) but has just four sacks over the four games, with offenses getting the ball out around 2.99 seconds on average. That volume of pressure versus late finishes is exactly where Thomas can tilt snaps.
Individually, Thomas has looked like a credible swing tackle who’s earning trust. Across the season he’s logged 199 offensive snaps, 176 at left tackle and 23 on the right. In that time he’s registered two penalties and one sack allowed, showing he can step in for Tyler Guyton without a big drop in protection. This is not hype either. The coaches credited him for a composed spot start against Kansas City and for holding up in true pass sets when Dallas needed him. For a second-year seventh-rounder, that’s meaningful.
So looking at Detroit. Aidan Hutchinson is the headline. He brings pace changes, a vise-grip long arm and counters that land late in the down. Detroit will also throw extra work to Thomas’ side to drag Hutchinson or an interior looper into his B-gap. Detroit generates plenty of near-wins, then struggles to finish, but when they do cash in, it’s often on the second move. If Marcus Davenport dresses, treat him as a speed-to-power change-up and stay the ready for the counter.
(2025 Stats: 760 Total snaps, 490 Pass Blocks, 18 Pressures, 0 QB Hits, 2 Sacks, 9 Penalties)
Smith walks into Detroit week with the right kind of résumé for a trench street fight. Individually, Smith’s profile is exactly what you want next to a backup left tackle, a people-mover first, and steadying influence second. His PFF profile has him at a 70.2 overall grade (22nd among all guards), but owns a run-block grade of 76.3 (9th), so the translation here is he creates displacement on schedule and against a Detroit team struggling in run stopping, this creates a huge mismatch inside for Javonte Williams. That dovetails with Dallas’ team win-rates and the way the...
